Gun Dog Forum

I'm a former bow hunter, been out of it for about twenty years and know I'm ready to get back into it, I've been searching on craigslist and have found quite a few set-ups. Interested in knowing what you guys are shooting good and bad about them.

Hoyt carbon element.

I use to shoot an Elite Synergy, love those bows.

Mathews Heli-m.

Doug

Ricky Ticky Shorthairs wrote:Mathews Heli-m.

Doug

Take a look at this then good or bad
http://stcloud.craigslist.org/spo/3648343150.html

PSE compound and recurve as well for myself.

Matthews & Hoyt are also popular

I prefer PSE and shoot both hunting and competition with a PSE.

Will be picking up a new PSE next month. Like always I will shoot all the latest and greatest but I always end up liking the way a PSE shoots over the rest.

The only change this year is I will be switching to carbon arrows.

Still shooting my Matthews SQ2. Just love this compact bow.

nikegundog wrote:

Ricky Ticky Shorthairs wrote:Mathews Heli-m.

Doug

Take a look at this then good or bad
http://stcloud.craigslist.org/spo/3648343150.html

That's a good price. All top notch accessories. You can change the cam to change draw lenght if needed.

It is a 60 to 70 lb. If you can pull that, then I'd be all over it

Light, short, short and quiet. I love mine. I too was out of bowhunting for a dozen years or so, after doing it for just as long.

The technology of these new bows is unbelievable.

Doug

Elite GTO with Easton ACC's.

Mathews switchback xt. there is a reason those bows don't sit on the market very long

Nike - you will be blown away by the improvements in the equipment these days. I would strongly recommend going to a few shops and try shooting Matthews, Hoyt, Bowtech PSE, etc. to see what fits and feels best. IMO, the general rule is the longer ATA bows seem to be more forgiving but shorter ATA bows are easier to carry/manage in the woods. I settled on a Hoyt Maxxis 31 cuz I just love the feel of the dang thing and shoot it very well. I tried PSE, Matthews, and Bowtech as well but the Maxxis fits me best. Once you know what you like, watch Archerytalk DOT com classifieds too - good prices on a ton of bows there.

Good luck and welcome back to the addiction.

JakeDD wrote:Nike - you will be blown away by the improvements in the equipment these days. I would strongly recommend going to a few shops and try shooting Matthews, Hoyt, Bowtech PSE, etc. to see what fits and feels best. IMO, the general rule is the longer ATA bows seem to be more forgiving but shorter ATA bows are easier to carry/manage in the woods. I settled on a Hoyt Maxxis 31 cuz I just love the feel of the dang thing and shoot it very well. I tried PSE, Matthews, and Bowtech as well but the Maxxis fits me best. Once you know what you like, watch Archerytalk DOT com classifieds too - good prices on a ton of bows there.

Good luck and welcome back to the addiction.

This is excellent advice. Especially this time of year, post season, the AT classifieds have some screaming deals.

If you have a big hand you might want to stay away from the heli-m. All of my stuff was stolen this past October and I bought a heli-m to replace my Z7. It was a mistake. Took the heli-m back and got a new Z7 extreme. Just fits my hand better.

Saddle wrote:If you have a big hand you might want to stay away from the heli-m. All of my stuff was stolen this past October and I bought a heli-m to replace my Z7. It was a mistake. Took the heli-m back and got a new Z7 extreme. Just fits my hand better.

That is definitely Mathews biggest area of weakness is in the grip. The target bows without the wood grip are fine, but there is just something about the shape and feel of that wood grip that isn't right. I will say it has gotten a little better the last few years.

deke wrote:Mathews switchback xt. there is a reason those bows don't sit on the market very long

Thats what I still use as well.

I shoot a 08 QXT Bowtech, Whiscker Biscut, Tru-Glo 5 pin Splotlight sight,Spyder peep-sight, Easton Gamegetter Aluminum arrows, and Muzzy 100gr 4 blade broadhead and Magnus Stinger Broadheads.
I love my Bowtech and shot a couple more Bowtechs other than mine and totally a Bowtech guy now. I do like Hoyts and Bear too, other brands just havent liked how I fit with the bow nothing wrong with them just dont work for me. And yes I shoot aluminum I like them and I have better resluts with them.
And its Whisker biscuts for me try crawling around in the weeds with a dropaway, not much luck there!

i shoot a mathews dxt, imo any mathews bow built i the past five years are great bows but becareful of the draw lenght not as easy to change as some other bows, a good way to find your draw lenght is to measure your arm span tip to tip and divide by 2.5 that will get you close. mathews makes great bows with great customer service

Matthews Dxt and switchback ld. The Dxt for ohio stand hunting and the switchback (most accurate bow I've ever held) for stalking ridge lines in the Carolina mtns.

I shoot a longbow / stickbow pending what you call it. Its simple and works kinda like me. If i was going to use a compound i would go with a mathews

Brazosvalleyvizslas wrote:Elite GTO with Easton ACC's.

X2

But Jeff, no one wants to shoot anything that'slow)ferent than Mathews(over priced and hyped), Hoyt(over priced and slowb, or PSE (point shoot explode).

Shoot an elite, buy it used, the warrenty will transfer and be honored by elite. No too expensive and more than worth the money. Look at the garantee. Its better than every one else's.

Used is the way to go. Alot those guys go thru bows like underwear its a new model out every 3 months it seems. What ever you get make sure it has a drop away a rest that alone is the best thing that hit the bow world in along time.

Tyler, you forgot to mention Blowtech.

PSE makes a bow for just about every budget and are a quality bow to boot

I see there are a lot of Mathews fans on here and they do make a great bow. I personally prefer the Hoyt bows they are just more durable when the unexpected happens. I shoot in an indoor league in the winter and have seen experienced archers make random rookie mistakes such as dry firing. The only bow that stood up too it was the hoyt (4 times in 3 weeks). Both Mathews blew apart completely ruining the cams and the pse cracked the limb after it happened just once. There are a ton of used Hoyt's out there and all shoot over 300 fps and I would also recommend getting a bow with50-60 pounds of draw they r easier to shoot easier to hold and still fast enough to get the job done at a distance. One last thing what ever you buy do yourself a favor and put a QAD drop away rest on it have your local archery shop install it you will love it!!! Good luck and welcome back to the bow

Elite Hunter! They have the smoothest draw and best grip ever!

Make sure whatever you buy you shoot it first.

be careful not to get caught up in the speed thing. usaly when they say 300+ fps it's 31'' @70# don't know too many people that have that long of a drwa lenght. i would look for a bow with a higher brace highth like 7'' it's more forgiveing. and 60-65# should be plenty,especally if you have sat in the tree for a while that bow might be a little hard to pull back and not get picked off.

Mine shoots 322fps at a 29" draw set at 70lbs and IBO speeds are rated at 30" so I'm not sure where someone would think they are rated at 31". There's nothing wrong with speed.

Elkhunter wrote:Hoyt carbon element.

I use to shoot an Elite Synergy, love those bows.

This, if you can afford it. Its about a 1500 dollar set up after arrows, sights, rest, quiver and so on. Its an amazing bow though according to everything I have read on it, unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to shoot one yet.

I hunt with a higher end Bear bow, I really like it and I paid around 650 for everything so the cost savings is there too, I switched over from a PSE to it.

Check out Bear, Martin, Parker, and Hoyt and Mathews if you can afford the last two. They are nice bows but you will be spending over a grand to have a full set up in both of those and if your just getting back in to it then chances are your not looking to but thats up to you. If I could buy a new one right now and I had the money, it would be the Hoyt Carbon element, if I wanted to save some, I would buy a Bear Truth II

Out of all of those, the one's I like the least are PSE and Mathews, in that order. I have shot a lot of PSE and they dont feel right, and as for Mathews, someone already mentioned it but they are over hyped and over priced. I dont like how they feel or shoot, they just feel weird to me. But what may be right for someone may not be right for the others. If you have the opportunity to go to a local archery shop then do that. They will let you shoot all different brands and you'll be able to find the one that fits you the best.

My longbow shoots 630gr arrow 190 ft per second

check out huntersfreind .com they sell ready to hunt kits of kinds of different bows ive order four bows from them for friends and family never been disapointed some good deals on there,check it out

Damit!!
I thought you speed guys would of took the bait:-)

Thanks for the advice, I could use a little on rests and releases also.

I have an 80" reach and need a 31" draw length. Which bows have this draw length that don't break the bank.

Mic

nikegundog wrote:Thanks for the advice, I could use a little on rests and releases also.

I use a Whisker Biscuit for an arrow rest. Some people like them and some dont, I love it because I put the arrow in there and it will not move if I lay the bow down, move it to fast, or do anything with it for that matter. A lot of people prefer drop away arrow rests though that do exactly what they say, they drop in a micro second after you release the arrow. They are supposed to give the arrow zero drag since it is no longer touching anything as it leaves the bow. They are nice, but expensive (upwards of 100 bucks)

Releases though are a different story. Go to a bow store and try a few on, I have really large hands so I have to get a pretty long release or it isnt comfortable for me to use. Some of them actually require you to squeeze the trigger on one like a gun and hold it back, while the other ones (the ones I prefer) are like hair trigger. You just tap it with your finger and off the arrow goes. There is advantages and disadvantages to both as you can imagine. The ones you tap that I use are verry touchy so if you just nick it in the rear ward position with your finger its going off, so you always need to keep your finger well away from the trigger. The other ones though actually take a squeeze so if you accidentally hit it with your finger its not going anywhere, so that is the advantage to that one, however the disadvantage though is that since it take more pressure and hand movement to fully release it you have now gained a disadvantage in the potential to pull the arrow off target. Thats why I prefer one you just tap and it flys. Less room for error that way.

Sierra Wirehair wrote:I have an 80st reach and need a 31" draw length. Which bows have this draw length that don't break the bank.

Mic

Look online for a used elite synergy xt, gt500. Mist have the draw you are looking for.